The present invention relates to an information processing system, an apparatus for and a method of processing information, a program, and a recording medium, and more particularly to an information processing system, an apparatus for and a method of processing information, a program, and a recording medium, which are capable of providing a comfortable listening environment with a low-cost and simple arrangement.
In recent years, it has been the general practice in record shops for customers to preview contents such as CDs before buying them. FIG. 1 of the accompanying drawings shows a conventional CD preview system. A user who wishes to preview a CD stands near a preview panel 1 that is installed in a given area in the record shop, and wears headphones 2 connected to the preview panel 1. The panel 1 has a plurality of buttons 11-1, 11-2, 11-3, 11-4, for selecting a CD to be previewed, and a plurality of titles (title 1, title 2, title 3, title 4, . . . ) of CDs selected by the respective buttons, the titles being displayed near the buttons (in FIG. 1, on the right sides of the buttons).
If the user presses the button 11-1, then the CD corresponding to the title 1 is selected from a plurality of CDs 4 loaded in the CD preview system and played back. An audio signal reproduced from the CD is transmitted through a cable 3 to the headphones 2, from which reproduced sounds are radiated for the user to preview the CD.
Recent advances in the radio communication technology have resulted in new data transmission and communication proposals. For example, radio transmission systems based on the 2.4 GHz band (so-called Bluetooth) are expected to achieve an exchange of data between devices of different types, e.g., personal computers, peripheral devices, home electric appliances, cellular phones, etc. There has been proposed a technology for performing communications between transmitters and receivers using conductors which are different from ordinary communication mediums, e.g., a human body. For details, reference should be made to JP-A No. Hei 11-509380 and Japanese Patent Laid-open No. Hei 10-229357, for example. Expectations have been raised for a technology for reproducing contents based on such schemes of radio communications.
The conventional CD preview system shown in FIG. 1 is disadvantageous in that since the cable 3 has a limited length, the user needs to keep standing near the preview panel 1 placed in the given area in the record shop, and the number of users who can use the preview panel 1 at the same time is limited. If there are too many users who are desirous of previewing CDs with the CD preview system, then the other users than those who have already been previewing CDs have to wait until the users attending the preview panel 1 finish previewing their CDs. Therefore, the conventional CD preview system is not convenient enough for all users.
Radio communications may be used to eliminate the limitation on the length of the cable 3. According to JP-A No. Hei 11-509380, a signal is transmitted in a closed circuit that is made up of a transmitter, a human body, a receiver, and ground. Electrodes of the transmitter and the receiver which are remote from the human body are so weakly coupled to ground that the closed circuit cannot virtually be established. According to Japanese Patent Laid-open No. Hei 10-229357, a signal is transmitted in a closed circuit that is made up of a transmitter, a human body, a receiver, and atmospheric air. The transmitter and the receiver need to be positioned considerably closely to each other in order for them to be coupled to each other through the atmospheric air.